Bern

A sapphire known as the Blue Belle of Asia has set a new world record after selling for more than 17 million dollars at a rare jewellery auction in Geneva, Christie's said.
     
The 392.52-carat gem was snapped up by a private collector Tuesday night for 16.965 million Swiss Francs ($17.29 million, 13.87 million euros), the highest ever for a sapphire at auction.
      

Bulgaria is to launch a pilot project to incorporate elements of the Swiss dual education system, President Rosen Plevneliev announced.

Plevneliev is on a two-day visit to Switzerland, where he met counterpart Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss president for 2014.

Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev will go on an official visit to Switzerland on October 13-14, the press center of the President's Office announced.

The hotels in Bulgaria's Sofia are in the Top 10 list of cleanest hotels in world capitals, shows a list of the Hotel.info portal. 

The ratings are formed on the opinions of more than 6 million users of the tourist portal, who rated hotels in world capitals.

Most clean are the hotels in Tokyo, while the dirtiest are in Kiev.

A new installation by the influential Turkish-Armenian artist Sarkis will be presented at the Pavilion of Turkey at the 56th International Art Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia, to be held between May 9 and Nov. 22, 2015.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic are maintaining constant communication and there are no disagreements between them, presidential foreign policy adviser Ivan Mrkic has said.

"Nikolić and Vučić pursue same policy" - adviser

BERN -- President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić "are maintaining constant communication and there are no disagreements between them."

This is what Nikolić's foreign policy adviser and former foreign minister Ivan Mrkić told the daily Danas.

Swiss voters rejected Sunday the introduction of a EUR 3300 worth minimum wage, which would have been the world's highest.

Some 76 percent declared themselves against the minimum CHF 22 (EUR 18) an hour that workers in one of the richest countries could receive under the proposal which was put forward on a referendum, according to the Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.